In today’s post, I want to address the topic of weakness. Now, we like to believe that we’ve evolved to a level where we don’t pick on the weak, at least as adults. As an adult, I know that . As a kid, I definitely picked on those who were weaker at times and got …

In this post, I’d like to share a few of my thoughts about dominance. There is a preconception out there among dog trainers that dominance doesn’t exist, founded on the idea that dogs aren’t actually pack animals (which may or may not be true). This idea has gained a lot of traction during the last …

Today I want to talk about dogs that take advantage of their owners. This has been on my mind because I’m working with an owner who has cancer and is physically weakened as a result. In a possible correlation, he’s seen behavior problems and boundary-pushing popping up in his dog. I’ve seen this phenomenon occur …

I want to talk about leadership. This is one of those concepts that a lot of people realize they need to do better, particularly in relation to their dogs. Unfortunately, some of these people end up practicing that only looks like leadership. Some of them just try to look tougher, some say things in a …

Yesterday I had to go to the airport to pick up a dog, and it reminded me of my last time there. At the Salt Lake city Airport, if you’ll be gone for a few days and need to park, you insert your credit card to open the gate. You go in and park, and …

Frequently, I chat with owners who are just beginning to think about getting their dog trained. One of the most common complaints is that their dog is chewing and peeing on the floor, but the owners don’t want to use a crate. Or perhaps the dog is destructive, but the owners don’t want to walk …

Before I begin this post, I’d like to offer the disclaimer that I sincerely hope to not offend anyone. What I’m about to write is simply an observation I’ve made in my work. Over the years I’ve found that the most experienced “dog people”—whose who train dogs, handle dogs, or simply spend a lot of …

Dogs exist in a hierarchal society. The idea of dominant and submissive makes sense to them and it is what they crave. Nowadays, in the dog world we understand that terms dominant and submissive are more fluid in the dog world than was once understood but the concept still rings true; dogs are happier when …